Boon for community media on cards as ANC mulls policy

The ANC intends crafting legislation to “dismantle the monopoly” of “white owned” and print media houses it regards as being hostile.

The governing party would in the years ahead be getting more aggressive in reducing its advertising spend in the mainstream print and instead plans channeling its advertising budget‚ worth almost R1 billion‚ to community-based media institutions.

Speaking on Sunday at the release of ANC policy discussion documents for public comment ahead of the party’s policy indaba scheduled for the end of June this year‚ chairperson of the ANC’s sub-committee on communications Jackson Mthembu said print-media ownership patterns needed to reflect the demographics of the country.

“We are saying no‚ there must be change. Ownership patterns of the media must represent the people of South Africa as a whole‚” said Mthembu who is also the ANC’s chief whip in parliament.

“It can’t be only limited to a few people who are white skinned and male‚ that’s the point we’re making.”

The party has proposed that state-owned development finance institutions‚ such the National Empowerment Fund‚ the Industrial Development Corporation‚ must be lobbied to “support this transformation of the media and funding must be made available to transform the mainstream media and develop new voices and media initiatives through support of community media.”

The print media industry is currently dominated by three media houses such as the Times Media Group‚ Independent Media‚ Naspers‚ and Caxton.

The ANC discussion document on “communications and the battle of ideas” proposes that “dismantling monopoly must be through legislative interventions in areas like ownership and that there must be a “probe into anti-competitive behaviours and market structure.”

The document further says “the ANC must focus on breaking up such monopolies and on ensuring participation of black South Africans…in all sectors of the media and across the media value chain.”

Mthembu said they ANC also wanted limit government advertising to community newspapers‚ TV and radio stations.

Government‚ including provinces and municipalities‚ spend almost a billion rand a year on advertising in the mainstream media.

Government has already started cutting ad spend on the print media and this has affected the profit margins of print media houses and has lead to job losses in some companies.

But Mthembu said they were forging ahead with the plan.

“We’re saying government‚ there are other communications platforms that can reach out to more numbers in South Africa. We’re talking to community newspapers‚ radio and TV stations. We’re saying we must do more as government to direct our ad spend to this community radio and TV stations and community print media. Wherever government directs its ad spend it must derive maximum returns‚” he said. - TMG Digital/Sunday Times